The Nexus Crusade
by TheManTimeForgot
Summary: A team of heroes make their claim to the multiverse! Will they succeed or be crushed?
1. Chapter 1

_We find our group of heroes in Gamma's lab, staring at a door in front of the armor lockers._

P: Look Gamma, what I'm telling you is that doors don't appear out of nowhere.

Γ: And I'm telling you this door came out of nowhere Rho!

Psyche: _I thought you had learned to trust me more Alex. But I am not so sure where it might go._

Y: I do not want to take chances with either this door or you Psyche, especially with your earlier compromise.

Psyche: _I will be fine _Johnathan, _do not be concerned with me._

Ω: He's not worried about you, the only thing on his mind is that girl.

E: Lay off of Upsilon, Omega. Let's open the door and see what's inside; Hephaestus anything on the scans?

Hephaestus: **QUANTUM** **ANOMALY DETECTED.**

Γ: Quantum? Then this might be a door to the multiverse!

Y: It may also be a trap.

Ω: Doesn't need to be, if Gamma is right.

E: If it at least means that we can learn more than it's a risk worth taking.

Psyche: _Please don't encourage Victor._

Γ: Just let me have this Psyche.

* * *

In a unknown facility…

Praetor: I'm not so sure what this thing is Imperator.

Nero: Do not fret my Consul, it is a door.

Praetor: Yes it is. Do you know anything more, my Lady?

Helen: My name will suffice machine; and this _is_ a strange oddity.

Nero: Very well, Praetor stay here and ready the rest of your men. We'll press on through the portal.

Praetor: Be safe Imperator.

* * *

P: Great, just fantastic! We go through a mysterious door and now here we are in a city suspended in the sky by nothing!

Γ: It could have been worse. Psyche can you estimate a date and location?

Psyche: _Circa 1910 A.D. Location: Atlantic Ocean_

Ω: Could such a place exist; this 'Columbia' as I've heard it called seems American in design, it would have tipped the balance in the present war.

P: It's obviously a sovereign country.

E: It is a beautiful city.

P: Doesn't mean much in the early twentieth century, the faith presented in this place is both ignorant and hypocritical. Especially since these people are led by a 'prophet'.

E: True, and it is a shame-wait who are those two over there?

Y: Those, Epsilon, are the Luteces: Rosalind and her brother Robert. They are the leading experts in quantum mechanics, which seems to be the reason why the city floats. Next time do a little research when you enter a strange place; there is a good library nearby.

E: Could they be the reason the doors exist?

Γ: No. There are similar doors around here, but I'd bet that they're the ones able to harness and stabilize the doors they do find.

Psyche: _Indeed, and the source seems to be on Monument Island. What's strange is that the energy is transmitting itself as if it were a brain wave._

Γ: How is that possible?

E: It's easy when the power source isn't just a machine.

P: You mean the power source has a human component?

Ω: He means the power source _is_ human.

* * *

Nero: Amazing, doors everywhere; linking to an infinite amount of worlds. All the knowledge that could be-can be-gained in only a single lifetime…

Helen: And apparently you're not the only one who's aware.

Nero: You're right, they don't look lost either. These two seem to be twins, then again they might be the same person.

Helen: That's quite a stretch.

Nero: Not really, look through enough of these doors and there's probably a male you running around.

Helen: R-Right…

Nero: If it would comfort you, we can ask them.

Helen: No, I can't explain it, but it doesn't feel like their bodies are in one place.

Nero: Then it might be unsafe to stay, we'll have to press on. A pity, it would have been an interesting conversation.


	2. The Girl

"The dimensional disturbances seem to collect here…"

"And here is?" Helen called out. The area was recently abandoned, various materials strewn along the ground. Travelling along the hallways they found the central chamber with a strange device in the center: a massive rip in space held in place by a massive structure. Nero inspected the device.

"It can be controlled, how very advanced of this place."

"Hmmm," Helen noted the materials. "This is Pre-Impact technology."

"Who could develop this thing back then?"

"Take a wild guess." She pointed to a chalkboard with various diagrams. In the corner was a picture of the woman they met before ending up here. Beside it was a signature: R. Lutece.

A smile appeared on Nero's face. "I guess we should have talked to them earlier huh?"

"Shut up and figure out what all of this means."

"Well, they seem to be researching the effects of quantum physics on the human body. This device is the focus for a large amount of energy."

"Understood, I can feel the source above us." Before they climbed up, the rift began to hum, catching Helen's attention.

Nero looked back at her. "What is it?"

Her head snapped back around to him. "That sound is familiar; a old tune I haven't heard for a long time."

"Really? Can you sing a bit of it?"

Helen nodded and sang:

_"You only live twice, or so it seems,_  
_One life for yourself and one for your dreams._  
_You drift through the years and life seems tame,_  
_Till one dream appears and love is its name…"_

They opened up a massive bulkhead and on the inside was a dark room with a one-way mirror. On the other side was a room full of hand drawn painting and books strewn about the floor. An incomplete painting of a transparent pyramid was on a canvas.

"What's it supposed to be?" Nero puzzled.

"It's the Louvre' Pyramid." Helen told a shocked Nero.

"The what?"

"It is quite like the Spire back home, a grand museum of history. Pay some attention to the rest of the art and they are all portray the same locations. However it doesn't gel right with the rest of this environment."

"How?" Before the question could be answered, the door swung open. From it was a young girl wearing a white shirt which made her long blue skirt stand out all the more. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was singing as well…

_"This dream is for you, so pay the price._  
_Make one dream come true, you only live twice."_

"The song…that's how it ends." Helen mused.

"Why is a girl up here alone?" Nero inquired.

"Take note at her left hand." Nero focused on it and saw that her pinky was capped with a thimble, and was only half as long. What he could feel from it was the same power as the rift.

"The research we saw," Nero realized. "Was to pump this girl with energy from the multiverse!"

"No, the energy is leaving her and going into the machine. She is alone here because this place is a prison."

"Can we rescue her?"

Helen shook her head. "We can't carry her around with us, it would be best to move on."

The two left the girl to her paintings and went to the far off places she could only imagine.


End file.
